Flewid
by Jibbzy
Summary: It was the day that Harry went to find the Horcrux, it seemed a normal day, but somewhere, in the lower parts of Hogwarts, a locket with a large intricate S carved in the surface was found. What happened from the near miss?
1. RAB and the locket

**A/N: **This story is based mostly on the information that we find out in Book 6, though it borrows heavily from the other books too. I always find it interesting to try and imagine what Harry's life would look like to a minor character that is rarely mentioned in the book, who does not have an as super fantastically famous life as he does.

It is also connected with The Phantom of the Opera, with some of the personifications of the characters. Reviews are very, very welcome. I like praise the best, constructive criticism second best, and criticism third.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any characters or plot lines which belong to JK Rowling of Gaston Leroux, or even Andrew Lloyd Webber, or Susan Kay.

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**Chapter 1 - "RAB" and the locket**

She felt a presence before she saw it. Her neck had a hot uncomfortable prickly tingle and her fingers tensed around the mahogany wand.

From behind her came the sound of a man taking a relaxing breath. She knew it was a man. The breath was too heavy for a woman and she could tell that the man was taller than her. She was one of the tallest women she knew, therefore it could not be a woman.

"What are you doing here today, girl?" The voice was soft and velvety, but very, very dangerous. It hinted of a very calculating brain. She was facing away from him, towards the deep end of a little known Hogwarts corridor. She felt unnerved by the fact that she had not seen who this man was, yet. Cautiously, she began to turn round to face this person who had snuck up on her while she had been trying to find out more about the mysterious locket that she had once found discarded in a rubbish pile. That locket was incredibly alluring, it seemed to have a whispering secret of its own. She had taken it out from the pile and it was hidden in a pocket of her robes since then. Today she had been walking round Hogwarts in a daze pulling it from her pocket and analysing the fine lines that intertwined on it at least seven times.

Now in the darkness of the evening she had been sauntering near the dungeons with almost inaudible footsteps, but it seemed that she had not been quiet enough. She had almost turned halfway to face this person, a fully grown male, when she realised that he was not a teacher. She knew the teachers well, having been in the school for seven years, and this voice belonged to none of them.

"Who are you?" She asked.

"Dear me, child," he said sarcastically, with a hint of malice, "didn't you ever learn that you should answer the question of someone older than you before posing your own question?"

"Whatever happened to ladies first?" She snapped back indignantly. This was met with a hollow chuckle that held no merriment and no warmth in it. She ignored his question, and he ignored hers.

She continued to turn slowly, but suddenly she was turned back to the way she had been facing by rough hands and a swallowed back curse from the man.

"Oh, no you don't. You will not turn round. You will not see who you are talking to, and you will answer my question, NOW!" His hands, which were gloved, released her and pushed her a little further down the corridor that she had been wandering down. She hated being controlled, she felt that it should only be up to her who she told what. However, this man's tone was utterly serious. She could not toy with him. She would have to say something.

She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it. What was she supposed to say? - 'Oh sorry, I was just in a daze thinking about this locket that has a little splodge on the side that no amount of cleaning will remove, and as I was walking wondering about it, my feet led me down here to this corridor… and I don't actually know where it is, or how to get back. Anyway, it feels like this locket was alive because sometimes it jerks around a little even when I don't touch it.'

She decided she may as well just say that. So she did. It was only afterwards that she realised that because she did not know who this man was, perhaps giving information such as this would be dangerous. It was too late to change anything.

She was relatively surprised by the result of what she had said: a sharp intake of breath, and several incoherent remarks. She still could not see who this person was, but she felt that he moved closer towards her. He was so close that she could smell the scent of sandalwood and parchment on his clothes.

Very commandingly, he said "Show me."

Slowly she started to remove the locket from her right hand pocket. She would obey. He would be a fool to think that she would not be cunning. She had asked a question that she wanted answered. She wanted to know who he was. If she simply gave him the locket, he may take it and vanish back as silently as he had approached her. It was only her sixth sense that had hinted to her that someone was there in the corridor with her. With her wand in her left hand she silently put a sticking charm on the locket and herself so that whoever this man was and what his intent was, he would not be able to remove it from her easily.

"Give it to me!"

"I've stuck it to me, if I allow you to look at it, I must turn to face you. Now, do you want me to let you look at it, or do you want me to not show this to you?"

An impatient stomp was her reply. Suddenly, the man grabbed her shoulder and steered her further down the corridor to where there was almost complete darkness; the lanterns had not been ignited here, probably because it was almost the night curfew and no one had thought students would be down this close to the dungeons at this time. Her eyes tried to adjust to the darkness, but it was rather difficult.

The hand that had steered her was still on her shoulder, and more gently this time, the man turned her round to face him. She couldn't really make him out in this darkness. It was clear he was wearing black robes, because she couldn't see much of them due to the lack of light. Any other colour would have been faintly visible. Her eyes travelled up to his face. That was also really hard to see. It looked very smooth but quite dark too. This man wasn't showing much emotion, or at least, she couldn't make it out. His eyes were what struck her the most. They were glowing. They were green. Glowing green. She had never seen anything like it. There was something intense in his stare which commanded utmost respect, and even compliance.

Slowly, she extended her hand to show him the locket. She was about to cast the _lumos_ spell so that he could see it. An almost reflexive, jerky hand stopped her wand in mid motion. "There's no need, I can see in the dark."

"But that's impossible!"

"Not for me," was the reply, in a slightly less malignant voice than his previous commands. His eyes burned fiercely as he observed the locket that was lying on her palm, she tried to read his eyes' emotion. There was a hint of victory and satisfaction in it.

"Where did you find it?"

"Somewhere in London. It was in a relatively muggle street, but there are a few wizard homes there. I assume it is from one of those wizard homes. It was discarded in the rubbish. It caught my eye, so I took it with me, because it reminded me of something, but I do not know what."

He went to touch it to turn it over, but caught himself. He wouldn't be able to move it, only she could, because of the well devised charm. "Turn it over."

She complied. The underside of the locket had a black smear on it that was could not be removed. Again, this man had took a sharp intake of breath. The locket jerked. It was almost invisible movement to most eyes, but both the girl and the man saw it.

The man started speaking very clearly to her "So, you have found it… Listen to me, Miss. Fawcett. You must take this to Dumbledore. Say that, 'it is one of the seven'. It is urgent that you do this. You understand? Take it to Dumbledore, and make sure you pass on the message!"

"How do you know my name?! And, who do I say the message is from?"

"I know almost everything that happens in this castle. I know the students. But only Dumbledore knows me. He however, does not know about the locket. About this locket. I wasn't sure until I just saw it in your palm, but, it is the one. You MUST tell him 'it is one of the seven'. Do it today. The password to his room is 'toffee eclairs'…and, say that the message is from a friend. Say that the message is from me; Regulus Black."


	2. Near Miss

**A/N: **I'm REALLY sorry, but I uploaded some chapters wrong, because I've realised that Chapter 3 (which was Chapter 2) needs heavy editing because the story plot line is not too believable, it makes Voldermort look stupid, which he isn't really... Thanks to Paxdol for pointing it out:)

So I need to change it a little. Luckily Chapter 2 and 3 are independent, so I've switched the order. And Chapter 3 will be back soon. Sorry everyone.

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**Chapter 2 - Near miss**

Sally Fawcett had left him now, and he was watching her turn the corner in the corridor. He had told her that when she felt she was nearing the end of the corridor, she had to say "I'm trapped", and then she'd find she'd be near the dungeons. He turned and seemingly dissolved into the darkness that surrounded the corridor and now his enigmatic being.

Sally had been walking down the same corridor for about a minute before she realised that she had been walking to get away from there a lot longer than it had taken her to get down that far in the corridor in the first place. She decided her mind must be playing tricks on her, and kept walking, her pace was exceedingly fast. This man, this Regulus person seemed to be very agitated by this locket, and if Dumbledore needed to know about it, then she must take it to him immediately.

Her footfalls were very quiet, and almost inaudible, even for her. That was a trait that she had, she could move with making hardly any noise, and she had a very useful 'sensing' system whereby she could tell if there were people or ghosts near her, even when they didn't realise she was in their close proximity. It was a very useful skill to have to get out of trouble with, especially on night errands. This was why she had been so incredibly surprised when this Regulus person had found her.

The corridor still loomed on ahead, the torches still being spaced far apart. She looked around. It felt like she had been in this part of the corridor before, as if the corridor was recycling itself over and over again. 'It should have ended by now. It really should have ended by now! Where am I? Why have I gotten lost now?' She broke into a run to make the end come nearer so that she could escape back into a corridor that she knew. But the end would not come. Again she observed the walls. There were no pictures here she realised. She began to panic. Pictures meant that she could get directions from a willing participant. No pictures meant that she was lost. She was sure now that the corridor repeated itself over and over again.

Panic came swiftly. She didn't know how to get out. What would happen if no one found her and she died here alone? Who was that Regulus? The only Regulus she had ever heard about was Sirius Black's brother, and he had been killed by Voldemort's followers more that at least 17, maybe even 20 years ago. She knew of no one else. Why had she never seen him before? Maybe he had bewitched this corridor so that she would be lost, lost with this locket that seemed to be so incredibly important for Dumbledore. And if it was important for him, it was important for Harry too.

Harry.

Harry had so many people looking out for him, and he didn't even know it. It was better that she remained a silent helper to him, even though at times it all seemed too painful. He could have said "thank you" so many times with those special eyes that lit up when there was honesty behind them. Harry, for whom she had sworn and Unbreakable Vow a long time ago, who didn't even know of it. It some ways it was rather sad. She had befriended Professor Dumbledore in her first year. His humour had comforted her in her distress. And she had had a lot to be distressed about. Not as much as Harry, never as much as Harry, but for her, her own pain had been perfectly enough. Coming from a wizarding family wasn't as happy as Harry seemed to imagine. Yes, the Weasley family was an example, but a very biased one, where all the children were adored, and the parents were completely devoted to them.

In her own home it had been very different. A lot of the stress had been put on education, and thankful to that, Sally had been placed in Ravenclaw at the beginning of the school year, but in reality, she felt she did not fit in. Her past haunted her too much for her to be fully able to devote her time to work. And her past had not been very happy in certain places. The dementors did not only affect Harry. Perhaps he showed more emotion when under their influence, but Dumbledore knew how much Sally suffered silently.

Due to this suffering, she had sworn to protect Harry, so that fewer people would have to go through what she would go through. And since then, her duty had been to watch from the shadows, and observe Harry's progress through the school, and to help him where she could, but so that she would not draw attention to herself. That was key. Mostly her friends were not in Ravenclaw, but in Gryffindor. The house that she considered the best. It had housed everyone that she had ever admired... everyone except _her_. _She_ had been in Ravenclaw, and that was the one reason why she was happy to be there.

'Well, I wont be a member of it for much longer if I don't get out of here very soon. Not only will Dumbledore not get his message, but I'll get a lovely detention from Professor Snape no doubt.'

In her mind, he wasn't Snape, not like for Harry. He was Professor Snape, someone she could turn to when she needed absolute confidence. She was treated moderately courteously by him. It was oddly surprising sometimes that she was treated so well, while Harry received so much anger from him, but she did not mind his kindness to her in the slightest. It offered one of the comforts of her life, and she needed those a great deal.

She had still been wondering down the corridor, the weight of the locket seemingly angry in her pocket. It was weighing down quite heavily and it felt like she had to physically tug at her pocket to be able to keep moving. After walking about 100m, she gave up the cause as lost. This corridor would not stop. She drew her wand from within her robes, that she had placed back into its rightful place after she had stuck the locket to her.

She muttered a few incantations and the Pointer Spell that she had learned from Hermione once by observing her. It did no good. She was trapped. Hopelessly trapped. She leaned against the cool surface of the corridor wall and looked down to the ground. Her shoes were quite dirty. She would have to clean them soon.

"I'm trapped!" She called out.

She felt exasperated. What was she supposed to do? She looked up. She could see a brighter patch of lights that had not bee there before! She began to walk again towards the light. It got brighter and brighter as she took bigger and faster steps to get closer. She could smell the fragrance of lantern oil and it was surprisingly comforting. In another two steps, she was clear of the corridor, out into another corridor that was quite close to the potions classroom.

_'He _told_ me I had to say "I'm trapped"!'_

Now that she was out of the ongoing corridor, she rushed up and up the many stairs, rushing to get to Professor Dumbledore's office. It was three floors up from here, and the stairs were always at the opposing end of hallways. She'd have to cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time. She persevered on, her breath becoming shorter and shorter, until she reached the gargoyle.

"Acid pops! Acid pops!" she panted heavily. The gargoyle would not open. That was not the password any more. Not for a week, but she hadn't needed to see the Professor for a week.

"Oh!" she squealed. "Toffee éclairs!" The gargoyle sprang to life and let her ascend the beautiful stairs. By the time she had reached the oak door, she had regained her composure. Her knock was powerful and confident.

There was no answer. She knocked again. It was unlike Dumbledore not to respond to a knock. He would usually say "Wait a moment", or "Come in, you are free to come in". But neither answer met her today.

Tentatively she opened the heavy door. It creaked a little. She winced. She liked being as quiet as possible. The office stood empty except for the Phoenix. Fawkes was perched on the back of Dumbledore's chair, giving her a soft hoot of hello. Sally was always allowed to come into Dumbledore's office. She was special in that respect. He trusted her completely. And she never forgot that. Whatever she could do for the Headmaster, she would.

Where had he gone though? She approached his table, and saw that it was relatively tidy. That was most unusual, usually the table was strewn with important papers and graphs and books. Today almost half the table had been cleared away, as if he had been using his pensieve. Of course, that was completely understandable, the poor man had a lot on his mind. She turned around to look at the silvery objects every where in the room. She loved these. Last year, after Harry had broken them all, she had asked for the permission of the Headmaster to rectify them to their proper state. She had been given a smile and a very willing "yes, please do Miss Fawcett. Clean away, clean away. There's nothing like cleaning for the easing of one's mind." He had been right. Once she had restored the objects with some useful spells, she had felt very peaceful and happy.

On the side of the door that she had not seen on entering the room, she saw Harry's cloak.

"Oh no."

They were gone. It was on this night that Dumbledore and Harry had gone to find the missing locket. The locket that was now lying in Sally's hand.


	3. The Past is History

**A/N:** Reviews are lovely, so please, if you feel like my story deserves a comment, a criticism, or even some little praise, I would love to hear it! Sorry for the trouble with the chapters. They are now in the right order, and with the correct plot line. Sorry to everyone who has already read it. It is almost the same. I also noticed that the password is actually "toffee eclairs" in the final part of the book, so I changed the password they use from Acid Pops, which was used in the first half of the book.

' ' indicates thought and " " indicates speech.

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**Chapter 3 – The past is history**

Regulus had watched her go with interest. Her movement was soft, inaudible to most ears, and it carried an element of grace and beauty.

He knew that Sally Fawcett had been appointed as a "silent" mentor of Harry, ever since the boy had befriended Ron Weasley. The Fawcetts lived relatively close to the Burrow, so it was a prime set up, in Dumbledore's opinion, and Dumbledore's opinion was usually the only thing that mattered to Regulus. Only two people in the world knew he was alive. No people who were currently alive, except her and Dumbledore, that is. Sirius had known of his surviving after he had been released from Azkaban. It had been too dangerous to tell him of the survival of his brother before then; if the Ministry had attempted to question Sirius with Veritaserum, his cover would have been blown, and Voldemort would have been sure to come and annihilate him, if he ever went to check on his horcruxes.

As it was, Sirius was gone, and Regulus was left relatively alone. Not that he hadn't been before hand. Since his attempted murder by Voldemort – which had not worked because Snape had intervened – he had been forced to live quite alone in this school, hiding from every living being, except Dumbledore. Dumbledore was a good man, and he was the person that Regulus had come to ask for help after his attack. Snape, the man who had saved his life, thought that Regulus had not survived. However, Regulus was stronger than Severus had thought him. The attack he had suffered had been cruel and violent. He knew many others that had not survived the treatment that he had received. He had all seen it before. Regulus had never been a member of the dark side.

He had joined the Death Eaters as a spy for Dumbledore. Dumbledore, who was so different from any other person he knew, except for Sirius and his friends, of who only Lupin now remained alive and uncontaminated by the Dark Lord. Sirius had needed to maintain the guise of Regulus being on the dark side even after his assumed death. The only thing that most people knew about Regulus was that he had succumbed to the dark arts and had been killed by Voldemort's followers because he had been weak and wanted to remain on the light side for fear of the Death Eaters losing.

'If only they knew the truth!'

The guise for Regulus remaining a Death Eater until his supposed death was needed to stop Voldermort from realising the whole business with the horcruxes. If Voldemort had ever gotten any strange idea into his head to check his horcruxes, he would have been amazed at how few there were actually left. No doubt he would work out who destroyed them; after all, Regulus had planted a signed note at each site, and woe be the man that destroyed them. Regulus had not known that there were seven pieces of Voldermort's soul out there. He only knew that there were more than four. He had destroyed two, and now Harry and Dumbledore had both destroyed two others. It was not until Slughorn's memory was revealed that the total amount was known.

Regulus had carved the way for Harry Potter's success, and yet hardly anyone would know him for it. Initially, he had been the one to discover that there were horcruxes of Voldermort's, he had worked in secrecy by himself on his 'mission' until he had found the first one; the locket. Once he had made the discovery, he had revealed to Dumbledore what he had found. Dumbledore had not seemed surprised.

Regulus could still remember perfectly the look on Dumbledore's face as he had been told the truth. Regulus had kept it in his pensieve. He had looked exceedingly old and frail, and he looked as if he had been cheated of something exceptionally dear to him, such as a wisp of hope that he had cherished for years that had been snatched away from him. He had looked defeated. But that did not last long. By the next minute, Dumbledore had looked revitalised and had already started formulating plans of what to do. Dumbledore had an amazing amount of strength and resilience. The only times Regulus had ever seen tears in the old man's face were when he delivered Harry to the Dursley's, and this year and the last. All instances involved Harry. That boy was loved very dearly.

And so, over the years, Dumbledore and then much later, Sirius, both had to maintain the façade that Regulus had indeed been against the Order and everyone on the light side, so that no one at all would be suspicious of how many horcruxes were no longer in existence.

Regulus had found the locket site almost purely by accident. He had been wandering round the neighbourhood, knowing that Tom Riddle had originated from there, due to Dumbledore's information. He had been wandering the beach nearby and smelled magic in the air. He had trailed close by the rocks and he had found the alcove; the tide was low.

When he had gone to retrieve the horcrux, he was surprised to find that very few "cruel"enchantments had been put around the area, it was relatively simple to get across a lake with inferi, and then to take the locket from a small, empty fountain that stood at the centre of the lake. The moment he had taken the locket and put a substitute in its place, a green, darkly magical potion had appeared. At the time, Regulus had not thought much about it, perhaps the potion sent a signal to Voldemort that one of his horcruxes were in danger, but Voldemort never came to the site while he was there. As it stood, he had destroyed the locket far from the place, in a place in Scotland.

The locket had several fine lines across it, at least seven and an ornate "S" on the underside of it. But once he had destroyed Voldemort's soul from inside it, a dark smear had appeared on the underside of the locket and covered up the "S". This was how he had known Sally Fawcett had the same locket.

He had had plenty of time over the years to mull over the absurdity of this situation he found himself in. When the locket had been restored to simply locket form, he had taken it to the Black household, in the hope that Voldemort may never find it. He had hidden it in one of the disused rooms of the house, but when he had gone to check its safety above a year ago, he had found it gone. He had questioned Sirius about it, who denied knowing where it was; Sirius had not known of its importance. He could have cleared it out completely by mistake.

If Voldemort found it again, he would undoubtedly convert it back into a horcrux, and that was exceedingly dangerous if it would happen, because of certain magical aspects.

The fact remained, that, if a wizard creates a horcrux which is destroyed and then made into a horcrux again, the difficulty in destroying it a second time becomes exceedingly horrendous, but only when the horcrux is taken back to the one place where it was stored as a horcrux. This was one of the major reasons why Regulus had remained invisible. The implications of a re-made horcrux were terrifying.

When Regulus had not been able to find the locket in the Black home, in the room where he knew he had left it, panic had set in very considerably, and he had told of his worries to Dumbledore, who had said that Regulus was quite right to worry, and it was very likely that Tom Riddle would take the locket back to its original place because, in Dumbledore's words: "Tom's not bright at all. He'd imagine that "RAB" was dead, and that no one else knows where the locket is. He's a bit stupid really. Perhaps he'd have a more powerful horcrux, but we'll know where it is. Silly boy. He'd be better off making a new one. However, this is to our advantage, in a sense that if he _has_ found the locket, we know where to find it."

Regulus had agreed completely with Dumbledore's opinion. A cleverer person would have checked that their horcruxes were still intact very frequently, Voldemort had never done so, he assumed that he was the cleverest wizard in the world, and no one would ever know about his horcruxes. No one would have known, if he had not boasted at a Death Eater "festival" that he had "gone further on the road to immortality than anyone before him". Those words had set wheels turning in Regulus' mind, and he had researched and guessed what Voldermort had meant.

However, it was this locket that had made Regulus seem dangerous to Voldemort. Voldemort had begun to have unclassified doubts in his mind about Regulus very shortly after Regulus had destroyed a part of his soul. Of course, Voldemort did not know that a seventh of his soul was gone, but the rest of his "soul" spoke out against the youngest Black in a feeling very close to fear. It was a sort of defence mechanism that divided souls had; anyone destroying a piece of a soul would be doubted by the person who's soul was gone, even if they couldn't find the reason why their mind was speaking against their attacker.

And so, Voldemort had allowed every Death Eater to think that Regulus was a traitor and a spy (which he was, but this was not why Voldemort really suspected him, Regulus played his part well), and so he decided to torture him, his Death Eaters were also welcome to inflict pain upon him; a spy had to be punished the most, to set a warning to anyone thinking about turning to another side. Voldemort thought he had tortured Regulus to death. He didn't decide to check for any trace of life. He had told his followers to dispose of his body. Tom Marvolo Riddle was sure that his handiwork was complete. If only he had been concentrating more _carefully_ that day, and not so incredibly sure of his own powers...


	4. The Hand of Glory and 'his' eyes

**A/N:** I hope you enjoy. Maybe not the most cheery of chapters that could possibly be written. I have an obsession with seeing Snape as being a good guy, ever since I read a Snape/Harry-father/son fanfic called Happy Days in Hell (it's wonderful), so in this one, he is good. If you don't like that, you don't need to keep reading. But, still, I hope you do.

**Chapter 4 – The Hand of Glory and _his_ eyes**

Regulus retreated back to his quarters. They were rather well decorated; he was not short of money. His decoration was mostly simple and mostly shades of white and black, and sometimes pastel colours too, but mostly the white was predominant. In the deeper parts of the castle, where he lived, there wasn't very much light. White walls reflected the light the most, and so he had painted them so. He did not mind the dark, but he preferred the light. It reminded him of what everyone in the Order was fighting for; a brighter future.

He looked appreciatively around the living area. There was a large black leather sofa, a low lying coffee table, a fireplace in which flames were twinkling merrily. A table stood in the corner furthest from him, parchment was strewn messily across its surface. With a lazy flick of his wand, the parchment tidied itself immediately. Some pieces zoomed over to a large grand piano that was situated in the opposite corner. The piano was midnight black, and had extremely good sound. He played it so much that the keys had started to wear away a few years ago, he would have to replace them some time soon.

He was about to enter his bedchamber when with a fiery puff, a phoenix feather appeared close to his fireplace. He hurried over and observed the feather. A note was attached to it. The writing was Dumbledore's; thin, elegant and very loopy.

_Regulus, _

_I have every reason to believe that Voldemort has taken his horcrux back to whence it came. I do not think that Amelia Bones' murder was for nothing. I am taking Harry with me, he deserves to fight against him with us. I would kindly ask you to 'prowl' around the school tonight. I have been uneasy about Malfoy's behaviour and Harry's opinion of him. Please, use your cloak and attempt to maintain the peace, if it is possible. However, do _not_ let anyone see you! _

_I wish you the best of luck,_

_Thank you for your help all these years, you have been an incredible friend,_

_Albus_

Regulus smiled. Albus always left him a soul boosting comment at the end of his notes, he didn't want Regulus to feel alone in the world. It was like Hagrid said; "He's a great man, Dumbledore."

He went towards his abode's door and turned the handle. He let go. He decided to put his cloak on before even leaving his rooms. If Dumbledore was feeling uneasy, then there must be reason for it. And he must not be seen. It was like living constantly with a Time Turner. He pulled out his invisibility cloak and covered himself with the shiny, silvery light cloak. He immediately felt a lot freer. With the cloak on, he could visit any part of the castle without being seen. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

He turned from his home and made his way out to the corridor on which he had found Miss Fawcett.

"I'm trapped."

He walked towards the light, and emerged quite near to Professor Snape's office. He began "prownling" down in the dungeons, towards the Slytherin common room. Sometimes he still felt as if he was a student too, and was allowed to enter that room, the room that held so many memories of friendship, of pain, of gain, of loss, or betrayal, but also of trust. All the feelings moulded into an image that ended on a positive feeling. He had had more happy memories there than sad ones. There seemed to be no disturbance down here. He decided to move towards the higher levels, towards where Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff had their common rooms. There were more windows by this side of the castle, and he looked out to the Forbidden Forest, where the light was failing fast, the lights of the stars popping out from the inky blackness.

He continued his walking up towards the Owelry, taking care to go by the corridor on which the Room of Requirement was situated. He knew that Dumbledore had been worried about what Malfoy had been doing there all year. Dumbledore hadn't needed Harry telling him where Malfoy was. Dumbledore knew almost everything that happened in the school. Regulus was one of his major informants, and there was so much magic in the air, of each type which Dumbledore knew what it was, and who cast it.. In turn, Regulus was the one who Dumbledore turned to often when he needed some peace, or some comfort. That wasn't very often, but Regulus was very glad when he could help, because he wanted to give back to Dumbledore at least some of the kindness which he had shown that he had shown Regulus.

The corridor seemed deserted as he walked down it, but he could sense that there were at least four people here. Sure enough, after tilting his head behind some statues and gargoyles, he saw the expectant faces of Neville, Ron, and Ginny. So, Harry must have warned them. And by the looks of it, they had each taken a swig of Felix, their eyes were shining and they looked somewhat elated. Those poor fools. Felix didn't actually make the person lucky, it only made them feel lucky, the feeling caused the imagination that there was a voice inside them telling them what to do, to stay lucky. In actual fact, that 'voice' was usually the subconscious coming out full swing.

Well, if there was to be an attack, which he hoped there wouldn't be, he would stay around here and protect the children. Adults could defend themselves so much more than children that had not experienced the cruelty of the world. Harry was able to protect himself, because he could separate his anger, his fear and his concentration, he had not been able to do this before his trip to the Chamber of Secrets in his second year, but after he had almost faced death for the second time in his life, he knew how to protect himself. Most youngsters of his age could not separate their feelings, and this made their magic rather unpredictable at times, which a fully grown magician could use to their advantage.

Regulus was wandering down the corridor and had almost reached the opposite end, the one closer to the Room of Requirement, on his way to the Owelry, when he heard the distinct sound of a door handle turning.

He whizzed around, and he could tell that Dumbledore's worries had been firmly based. Malfoy was coming out from the room with his sickening hand of glory in his left hand. In his right, he was carrying what looked like dungbombs. Regulus had seen packets like that before, they were George and Fred's impenetrable darkness creators. He'd be able to see through it, but Neville and the others would not. He backed up to the opposite end of the corridor from the door, so that he stood facing it, with his back to the windows. Behind Malfoy, there were some more bodies emerging, clad in Death Eater cloaks. He was trying to get a good aim at Malfoy's right hand, to transfigure the powder into an unharmful substance. He aimed the silent spell and was about to shoot, when a green fiery curse whizzed past him and hit one of the Death Eaters in the leg. It was a leg-locker curse.

In the next moment, the saying 'all hell broke loose' was very apt, thought Regulus bitterly. Malfoy detonated his powder, and the corridor, and probably several nearby corridors, were covered in a pitch black darkness that could not be removed by any spell, only time, or by a device like the Hand of Glory. He could hear the DA members trying _Lumos_ and _Incendio_, but nothing would penetrate the darkness that they were in. The only thing that could be seen by them was the magical colours that were created by the firing of jinxes and curses. The DA members were not willing to hurt their fellow members, so were reluctant in firing any spells, and were only desperately trying to dodge them.

Regulus had had the green eyes since his birth. It was not common to have these colour eyes, and they held with them a special power. Harry also had these eyes. Harry saw visions from inside other people's heads, it was mostly connected with Voldemort, because that was what Harry's subconscious was mostly concerned with, but it was not only Voldemort he saw. He had seen inside snakes and owls and many other creatures in his sleep. Regulus also had green eyes like this. He could penetrate darkness wholly, so it did not matter to him whether it was light or dark. Harry could also have this power, if he harnessed his eyes' power, but he was too young to do so yet. A wizard had to be of age before eyes could be properly commanded. Regulus could not only see in the dark, but also he could see inside people's feelings and thoughts, even when most people would have been blocked by Occlumency. In this aspect, he was more gifted than a Legilimens. He could even read Snape's mind. Hence, he knew Snape was innocent.

Regulus, who was able to see perfectly clearly, was firing several silent menacing curses in the direction of the Death Eaters. He got one of them squarely in the chest, and they toppled onto the floor, knocking another criminal flat on their backside. He didn't kill the man, it was merely a stupefying spell, but he knew the others would not try to revive him. He knew only too well the carelessness that each member of the Eaters felt towards the others. If it was not family, the person very rarely meant anything to them.

Malfoy was leading the members out of the corridor, and up towards the Astronomy Tower. He had to jog to keep up with them, firing jinxes as he ran. They reached the tower's entrance just as they were intercepted by members of the Order.

'Finally!'

A battle of sorts broke out. The dark side against the light. Quite literally. The misty black had reached here too, though it wasn't thick at all. There was more light than darkness. Malfoy had been able to keep running. He had discarded his Hand of Glory at the foot of the stairs, and ran up the steps. Two Eaters started to follow him, but he shot a spell at one of them and they crashed to the ground. He was about to issue another spell, when the other man created an "Eater Barrier" against the door. Regulus' spell hit the man only after the barrier was created. The barrier could not be penetrated by any one who was not a Death Eater, and similarly could not be destroyed by anyone but them either. Thus, Regulus could not remove it either, because though he still had the dark mark tattooed to his arm, Voldemort had taken care to remove the traces of "Death Eater Privilege" from him, something that he had not regretted until now. There was no hope of getting up to the Astronomy Tower now, except by flying up from some other room, but the need here in the corridor was too great for him to even think of going up there to see what was going on. To his knowledge, there was no one up there, so no one needed protecting. Perhaps they were wanting to put the dark mark above Hogwarts.

'It's too bad that Dumbledore isn't here to see it! He would want to help.'

He was trying to weigh up in his mind whether it was worth getting Dumbledore to abandon going to find a horcrux, that might have actually been found in Hogwarts territory, to help in the fight here. He decided it was. Even if Voldemort had found that his locket had been stolen and put a new one in its place, Hogwarts needed Dumbledore's help more right now, than the rest of the wizarding world.

He wanted to issue a warning to him, and was raising his arm in the well practised method to summon a Phoenix feather message with his wand, when blaze of red light hit him. He keeled over and fell face first down onto the already body littered floor. He had been hit by a stupefying spell of the Eater who had been randomly shooting spells everywhere. His invisibility cloak had still been on him.


End file.
